


trust will be our tomb

by protect_rosie



Series: forget me not [7]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, Getting Back Together, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 09:03:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12362316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protect_rosie/pseuds/protect_rosie
Summary: He can’t let himself answer just yet.





	trust will be our tomb

**Author's Note:**

> this has been about eight months in the making im sorry it took so long to finally get posted
> 
> who knew it would be over a year after i first posted the first part to this series to finally end it? lmao anyway i hope u guys like this 
> 
> anyway this takes place about two years after nicky comes back
> 
> kudos and comments are always greatly appreciated
> 
> title, as always, from _570_ by motionless in white

Andre doesn’t have anyone to kiss him when the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s anymore.

He’s had more than enough time to get used to it now - it’s been over two years since he broke up with Braden - but that doesn’t mean it’s been easy to deal with. Andre sees Braden every day, it’s not like he can avoid it when they live in the same house. Sometimes it’s harder to deal with them not being together anymore, like when he sees Braden flirt with someone at the bar. He knows he has no right to get jealous anymore, after all, it was  _ his  _ decision to end things. It does get more difficult than that, when they’re at home, relaxing after a big deal, and Braden has his arm around Andre’s shoulders, acting like there’s not a worry in the world. 

It’s never easy dealing with the fact that they don’t sleep in the same bed anymore. It’s never easy dealing with having Braden at arm’s length, yet being a world away.

So Andre doesn’t have anyone to kiss him the first second of the new year anymore, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want anyone to. 

\/\/\/\/\/

Like always, the house is split into groups. This year the Canadians are in charge of food and drinks, the Europeans are in charge of helping the significant others with the children, and the Americans are in charge of making sure the house is clean and in order. 

It’s plenty loud, but it’s like music coming to Andre’s ears; there’s nowhere he’d rather be right now. 

He’s watching Marcus’s kid (Marcus and Abigail disappeared a while ago, and no one seems to know where they went) when Braden sits right next to him. 

“Been thinking of adopting,” Braden says, a little wistful. “But I don’t think I could raise a child myself, especially not with a life so hectic like ours. Used to think that I could do it, you know, when we were still together. I used to think that raising a kid and having a life like this would be so easy if I had you by my side.”

Andre tries to not let himself react, just closes his eyes and breathes in.

“Don’t,” Andre says. He looks at Braden and shakes his head. “Please don’t.”

To his credit, he drops the subject.

“So I guess this is it, then?”

Andre doesn’t answer, because he doesn’t know. He can’t see into the future, doesn’t know what tomorrow holds for either of them. 

He can’t let himself answer just yet.

“Think about it,” Braden says before he gets up and walks back into the kitchen. 

Truth be told, he’s been thinking about them for over two years now, and still hasn’t come closer to a true decision just yet. 

\/\/\/\/\/

Andre dozes off, right after Marcus and Abigail come downstairs, both a giggling mess. 

He’s woken up by a loud cheer coming from the kitchen, and it startles him so much that he almost falls out of the couch and hits his head on the corner of the coffee table. He straightens himself out before he practically runs to the kitchen, where Braden and Jay seem to be racing to see who’s the fastest at cutting potatoes into squares, to see who can get their hand on the last potato.

He can’t help but smile at the way everyone’s cheering, but mostly, at the way Braden’s eyebrows are scrunched together. 

“Don’t cut yourself,” Andre says, just over everyone’s cheers. 

“Don’t worry, darling, I won’t,” Braden replies, right before he gets his hand on the last potato.

That moment is the proudest Andre’s felt in a while.

\/\/\/\/\/

Andre pours Braden a glass of his favorite white wine, and takes it to the kitchen, where Braden’s finishing up the dishes. 

“You read my mind,” Braden says, wiping his hands on a couple of paper towels. He takes the glass from Andre, and takes a huge sip. Andre has to look away just then. “Thank you for that.”

“No problem. Saw you working hard,” Andre replies, casual. “You deserved it.”

Braden sets his glass in the sink and lets his arms fall to his sides. They look at each other in silence for a while, and it isn’t awkward. Andre is a little surprised that it isn’t, considering their conversation earlier, and how he’d sort of shut Braden down. Instead, the silence is a comfortable one, like an old friend giving someone a hug after a long time of not seeing each other. It’s nice. 

“You have to know how scared I am to fully give myself to someone, like I’ve given myself to you in the past,” Andre says. “I trust you with my life, but something like us, that requires commitment.”

“I’ve been committed to you since day one, I don’t know where you got that I wasn’t,” he says, a somewhat concerned look on his face. “You’re the only one that I want, you’ve got to know that. Nothing - listen to me - nothing, absolutely  _ nothing  _ would make me happier than making  _ you  _ happy. You know that, right?”

Andre wraps his arms tightly around himself and closes his eyes.

“I don’t know. What if something happened to you? I don’t think I could handle that, don’t think I could, could live with myself.”

He doesn’t hear Braden get closer, just feels his arms wrap around him, pulling him as close as he can without hurting Andre. 

“You won’t ever have to live without me if you don’t want to.”

\/\/\/\/\/

Andre looks at everyone around him - there’s no other group of people he’d rather be spending his life with than them. 

_ Three. _

_ Two. _

_ One. _

The clock strikes twelve, everyone hugs and kisses each other.

“What are you waiting for?” Andre jokingly asks Braden. “Don’t you know that the first person you kiss on the new year is the person you stay with for the whole year?”

\/\/\/\/\/

Just like all those years ago, Andre escapes to his room and opens the doors that lead to his balcony. The fireworks in the distance are as bright and big as ever. Now he knows that they’re so far up in the sky that they can’t reach the houses underneath them. 

He laughs a little at himself for ever thinking that was possible. 

“Remember those can’t touch the houses under them,” Braden says, as he walks into Andre’s room. Andre turns around and smiles at him. “Just wondering where you ran off to, but I had a feeling.”

“Can you always feel where I am?” Andre asks, and opens his arms for Braden.

“Sometimes.”

They laugh together, look into each other’s eyes like they haven’t seen each other in ages. They fall into comfortable silence again.

“Ah, fuck this,” Braden says, before he drops to one knee. He reaches in his inner jacket pocket and pulls out a simple black box. “I was going to wait until your birthday, but, I don’t think I can wait anymore.”

Braden pops the box open, and inside is the most beautiful, simple grey ring. Nothing too flashy or fancy, just the way Andre likes. 

“Not only have you been a dream to work beside, you’ve been a dream come true to be with. From the first day I saw you, I knew there was just something about you that I needed. There’s no one in the world I would rather spend the rest of my days than you. Will you do me the greatest honor and make an honest man out of me?”

There’s no hesitation before Andre says, “Of course I will.”

If Andre really thinks about it, when it comes to them, there’s never really been hesitation. 

They’ve always been each other’s only choice. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is the last part to this series, thank u so much to everyone who has read this and inspired me to keep going!!! 
> 
> u can find me on tumblr @ **grubauers**
> 
> thank u for reading!


End file.
